When Life Gives You Lemons, Saipan edition

Saturday was Saipan ladies retreat! It is always a favorite of mine. It was the same retreat theme that I did in Guam last year.  (This year Guam has to have an evening event, so they were going to be different anyway.)  When Life Gives You Lemons, God Makes All Things New. 

The first lady that walked in the church is new to the church/island. (Well, they came in October.)  So this was her first retreat. I think she was so excited to see a totally transformed church with decorations and goodies.  That's what I want--for the women to feel special.  For the expats that live here, they get a taste of home.  For the local islanders, they get a taste of something truly special.

We sang songs, ate food, played games, ate food, colored, ate food, made scarves, ate food, and studied the Bible.  (Did I mention we ate food?)  I think the prayer stations area always a highlight. 

I have more pictures from our crafting, but my Google photos is full and need some pictures deleted (meaning pictures stopped uploading).  So you'll just have to use your imagination. 

All the women went home with not only their participant guide, but a lemon necklace, a women of faith tote, and a handkerchief with a verse.  (Thank you to a special donor who gave me the totes and handkerchief for the event.) What a special day!

American Memorial Park Museum

In honor of Independence Day (or Liberation Day on the islands), I made a trip to the museum. I hadn't been to the museum in years.  I rarely see many there, but of course there would be a school field trip the day we decide to go.  (And these middle school kids probably thought I was a little crazy carrying around and staging my platypus around.)

The museum takes you through the sugar cane farming days of the Japanese occupation...through WWII....to the internment camps after the war...

It all so awful. First many locals believed the propaganda of the Japanese and committed suicide instead of being captured by the US soldiers.  But all the locals were put in internment camps when the US took the island.  They remained there almost a year after the war was even over.  Deplorable living conditions, not enough food, malnutrition, so much death.   They at least go to bring back Catholic Mass.  And eventually, they were let out during the day to fish and grow food.  

Well, here are a few pictures of Perry in the museum.  

 

 

Score!

Yesterday, as I was dropping kids off after Bible school, I heard a commercial on the radio that said if you bought a drink at Marianas Coffee in Marianas Beach Resort (formerly the Hyatt that closed while I was here last summer) then you would get a free pool pass.  I did some internet digging last night, and it appeared that it was a March promotion.  I was a little disappointed, but not overly surprised that I could have heard a three month old commercial.  

However, I went into the coffee shop this morning like a fool asking if I bought a drink would I get a pool pass or was that an expired promo--and it is back for July! SCORE! 

Now if you know me, I think it's ridiculous to buy drinks out. They are over priced (and calorie filled).  But a $6 pool pass for the entire to day to the former Hyatt--totally worth that expensive-calorie-filled-drink. So I got my island coconut frozen coffee and lived the dream. 

Literally.

The first year I lived in Saipan, you could pay $25 which came with a massage, lunch, and a Hyatt pool pass.  During year two, the spa had a "remodel" and that promo went out of my price range.  Occasionally I would walking longingly through the gardens, but could never get in the water.  It wasn't one of those places I could sneak in to.  (If you remember from a few years back, Hyatt Guam was my last island hotel on my list to sneak in to.  But Hyatt Saipan was too small not to get caught.) So it had been twenty years since I had swam in these pools.

After Perry and I got our drink, it was pouring rain! (Of course it was. Sigh.) So we found this cozy spot overlooking the gardens for Bible study.

Eventually, the rain stopped, and we made the walk through the gardens, fountains, and fishponds to the pool.  

Once I got to the pool, there were only four Korean tourists in the water.  But soon they left (it was probably the platypus), and Perry and I had the place to ourselves with out own private lifeguard for the next two hours. Eventually, another family (also sporting the drink from the coffee shop earning a pool pass) joined me.

It was a great several hours.  I took all my upcoming lessons: (Sunday's sermon, 4 youth retreat messages, 5 sessions for the ladies retreat this Saturday).  I would review one of the lessons and swim two laps around the place (under the bridges and through the waterfalls).  I'm sure I will be back!   

VBS Day 3

SCUBA Vacation Bible School Day 3 has concluded.  We were sooooooooo fortunate.  Apparently there was heavy rain and power outages over most of the island, but we had no idea.  I think God was protecting our power today so we could carry on exactly as planned. Thanks God!  (We say Thanks God a lot in this VBS--it's part of the program.)

Lack of power and rain wouldn't have stopped us from having dolphins for dessert. :) 

But it would have been a little harder to make pancakes for all without power.  I am so thankful we have Lisa helping out.  

Here's a few kids pretending they love each. 

After it was over, I bribed three girls to help me stack all the chairs in the church and drag tables from downstairs as I prepare for the women's retreat this weekend. They even swept the floor without being asked!  Bribery speaks in all languages and cultures. 😆 (On the way home they each got to pick out a snack at the grocery store.  That's how my bus driver bribed me to clean the bus when I was in school. I see the method continues to work 8000 miles away.)

Sundays

I write this blog mostly so you guys don't think I fly 8000 miles to sit on the beach and walk nice paths all day. (Perry may very well be doing that, but I occasionally do something.)  

Sundays is one of those days.  You don't think of all the parts that go in to a church service until you are all those parts.  Here's a Sunday for me.

• Prepare the building (open the gate, open typhoon shutters, plug in everything, fire up the air cons, start the hot water)
• Breakfast (make sure there is breakfast available when people arrive, restock cups and drink mixes)
• Kids Sermon Sheets (find corresponding kids pages to accompany the sermons, make copies, and stuff the clipboards)
• Children's Sunday School (prepare and teach the lesson)
• Music (pick the music, practice the piano, lead the music)
• Preach (write the sermon, make the PowerPoint, deliver the sermon)
• Close down the building (close typhoon shutters, unplug everything, turn off the air cons, take out the trash, sweep the floor, close the gate)

Thankfully another person is helping with the kid pick up for Sundays! 

This Sunday we talked about faith, particularly Mary.  We talked about how she had faith in the BIG things (pregnant with the Messiah) and faith in the small things (knowing her Son could fix the problem when they ran out of wine at a wedding).   

Perhaps my Sunday highlight, I was given a big bag of mangos by a family in the church.  I'm eating at least two mangoes a day right now.  Living the dream. 

I had so much to do after church, but I was tired and didn't care.  So I packed a picnic and went to the beach for a couple of hours.  Then I had a lovely evening walk on Beach Road.  

Some More Walking Paths

Last night, the Lauras went walking again in Kagman. This Laura didn't have her phone/camera, but the other Laura did. She was kind enough to send me a few pictures.  Though she wasn't trying to capture the walking path, she did get a bit of it  (top picture) while taking a picture of the incredible sunset we got to watch take place!

Tonight, I decided to walk at American Memorial Park.  This park is a part of the National Park Service.  It has incredible paths through beautiful plants and trees, along the ocean, through memorials.  I haven't been to the museum in years, so while I was there I took a mental note of the museum days and times. Perhaps Perry & I can check it out later this week.  You know, since it rains all the time...and it's free air conditioning. :)

Oh, and if you closely, you can see there are bunkers for my safety.  (I actually saw one pretty hidden that I had never noticed before! I didn't grab a picture because there was some Japanese bird watching group with super duper professional cameras, and I felt like I just needed out of their way. But next time!)

VBS Day 2

Our second day of VBS went well.  VBS is spread out with a few days in between.  (Mostly because it is hard for me to prepare all the parts when it is every day in a row AND because most kids go to summer school. So a week of school and VBS would be hard on everyone.) 

Here are some of the kids with the crafts we made...ocean windchimes. :) 

And our special snack were clams!  The kids were again a big apprehensive when I told them we would be eating clams for dessert.  But it wasn't so bad when they were vanilla wafers, icing, and a white chocolate chip for a pearl. :)  I'm not sure if the clams or the grilled cheese sandwiches were the bigger hit.

Our littlest guy was just there for the snacks. 😂

And Perry wanted to make sure he made a picture!

We made it through VBS without rain! Woo-hoo!